AIR FORCE SCANDALS.

Taranaki Daily News, 25 October 1919, Page 6

AIR FORCE SCANDALS.

THE DOUGLAS-PENNANT CASE. AN INQUIRY OPENED. An inquiry has been opened concerning the case of M'rt Violet DouglasPennant, who was dismissed from the women's section of thn j?oyal Air Force, the circumstances of -winch have been iigiviting political circles for many mouths.

The case of Miss Violet Douglas-

I "enuant, who was dismissed from the ; position of Commandant oi'the Women's ! j -.oval Air Force, was dealt with, in a | White Paper issued at the .end of May. |ln superseding her, the Air Ministry I admitted her zeal am^capacity, but said \ she was "grossly unpopular with every. ; one who had ever come in contact with ! her.' In her final letter to the Min- ; istry, Miss Douglas-Pennant said: "I accuse Brigadier-General Livingston, Lieut.-Colonel, Bersey, and Mrs. Beatty (W.R.N.S.), of taking stops within the W.R.A.F. to bring about my dismissal from the post of commandant, meir reason for doing so being that I would not ibe a party to the jobbery and inefficiency which prevailed in the WJt.A.F. while it was under the control of Brigadier-General Livingston and the the direct management of Lieut.-Colonel Bersey. I charge Dame K. Furse, a friend of Mrs 1 . Beatty and of Sir Auckland Geddes, with having brought pressure to bear through Sir A. Geddes on Lord Weir and Major-General Brancker to dismiss me as soon as Major-General Sir Godfrey Paine, who alone knew about by good work, had gone overseas. Immediately I was dismissed, Mrs. Chalmers Watson, sister of Sir A.- Geddes, was nominated as my successor, and failing her Dame K. Furse. On June 2oth., 1018, a few days after I had refused to recommend five unsuitable women, _I was threatened by another officer, Mrs. Stephenson, who complained that I had not posted her high enough. She boasted that she had influential friends in .the Air Ministry. She told me that unless I posted people i.ley wished she and her friends would put the press on me. 'Northeliffe is on you already. Four highly-placed generals and others in the Air Ministry intend to get rid of you. You will be outside looking for a job before a few weeks are over unless you do as you are wanted. See if you are not,' were the words she used. Major-General Brancker became Master-General of Personnel in succession to General Paine. I was warned on the telephone that 'lie is a friend of Colonel Bersey, your number is up.' I only worked one day under Major.General Brancker The next day General Brancker sent for me and dismissed me—'not,' he said, 'because you are inefficient, as you are very efficient, but because you are grossly unpopular with' everyone who has ever come in contact with you.' He ordered me to leave immediately—the next day. I say that Sir Auckland Geddes mane use of his position as Minister oi National Service to bring pressure to bear on Lord Weir to cause him to dismiss me. Soon after my appointment as Commandant of the W.R.A.F., Sir A. Geddes' sister, Mrs. Chalmers Watson, met someone who had been a colleague of mine for many years. Some mention was made of the Women's Corps—the W.R.A.F. among them. My colleague made a remark to the effectthat I would be sure to see that Aiatters got on to a proper footing. Mrs. Chalmers Watson replied: 'Oli! we intend to make a change there —we' (meaning her (brothers and herself) 'don't mean to let her go on.' As Mrs, Chalmers Watson, a great friend of Dame K. Furse, was immediately nominated as my successor. I submit that this incident is highly significant. Without any opportunity of defending myself I have been publicly disgraced."

When the case was discussed in the House of Lords on May 31st, the Lord Chancellor (Lord Birkenhead), said that the plain truth was that this lady was diverted from one branch of the public service to another. There was a lot of tittle-tattle in Miss Pennant's letters. ■He said she had been accused of being "a dreadful woman who had spied everywhere," and it was stated that one. of the nurses threatened to inform Lord Northeliffe and the press generally. The North Wales Chronicle on April 17th attributed to the Bishop of St. Asaph the following observations: "The only possible explanation of the refusal of an inquiry is that the Government fear a scandal. One newspaper has stated that some officers who were sheltered in the Royal Air Force wished to have their mistresses maintained by the State in sham appointments at .-eSfK) to £4OO a year. Ido not think that any Gov. eminent who refuses an inquiry into such an allegation would last very long in this country." It was indeed easy to understand the indignation if allegations of this shocking kind made by persons of the highest responsibility informed public meetings that this lady was removed because she exposed the immoralities of officers who established irregular connections with women who were also serving at the front. He had not the honor of knowing Miss Pennant, but speaking from the correspondence he found that Miss Pennant, while very sensitive as regards herself, was not quite so sensitive when dealing with others. There were many avenues of obtaining a public inquiry, but he (the Lord Chancellor) would never allow that one of them ought to be tne making of reckless charges against persons in high positions without adducing one syllable of evidence in their support.